


Sextape | IronWidow

by Mystique1250



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers - Freeform, Complications, F/M, Falling In Love, Hate to Love, Love Confessions, Love/Hate, Secret Sex, Secrets, Sex, Sextape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:55:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 12,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22258300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystique1250/pseuds/Mystique1250
Summary: When suddenly a sex tape by none other than Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff appears, Natasha can no longer avoid the man. She has no choice but to talk to him about it and to try to find out together with him who has countered the secret data to the press. Will they find the culprit? And can they ignore the sexual tension that still exists between them?
Relationships: Natasha Romanov/Tony Stark
Comments: 29
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

With a coffee cup in her hand, Natasha strolled along the sidewalk and tried to enjoy the fresh air, which proved rather difficult in the big city. However, she had simply needed a break from the concentrated testosterone in the Stark Tower. Even though she got along well with most of the boys, sometimes she just needs a break from them. Especially when the silly arguments between Steve and Stark started about all kinds of things and threatened to bash their heads soon. After all, she was not their arbiter. At some point, her colleagues would learn to solve their problems on their own anyway. After all, she went on missions often enough - most of the time with Clint, too - and then the people who usually intervened failed, because Thor was currently more in Asgard than on Earth and Bruce didn't like to get involved in such things.

So to get away from it a little bit, she had just gone out in the morning and jogged in Central Park for a while before her feet carried her to the cafe around the corner and she couldn't resist getting a latte to go. After a short time of walking around and looking in the different shop windows, she decided to go back.

Just when the tower was already in sight, the mobile phone in her jacket pocket started to vibrate. With a wrinkled forehead, she took the last sip from her coffee cup while trying to pull the mobile phone out. As she pulled it out, her eyes fell on the display, which showed a number that she knew all too well. She belonged to her team partner and best friend Clint Barton, who was as much an Avenger as she was. Why he called her, however, was not clear to her. She had finally told him what she wanted to spend her morning.

Hoping that he would tell her if she called him back, she began to dial his number. But before she could enter the last numbers, another vibration sounded and a message from Clint trickled into her mailbox. So she decided to postpone the call for a few seconds and instead devote herself to his message. Maybe that's how she found out what she wanted to know.

So she opened the message without thinking about it. What she read there, however, caused her to suddenly stop and the cup almost fell out of her hand, while the handle around her mobile phone loosened slightly. "Damn it, don't stand in the way," someone behind her shouted, but the words only penetrated her ears muffled. All her attention was suddenly drawn to Clint's message. Again and again, she went through each of the words, hoping to find some other meaning in them than the one they were meant to make. But she did not succeed. There was indeed exactly the message she didn't want to have.

_Hey, Nat,_   
_I found something I think you might want to know about. But please don't freak out._

Below it, he had attached the link to a newspaper article, the title of which made everything contract inside her while she reflexively squeezed the coffee mug firmly in her left hand. But that could not be! As if by magic, her legs made her move again. Now she felt the need to return to Stark Tower and then she had to sort something out. But not with Clint, but with a completely different person, with whom she had been trying to avoid conversations lately. Now she couldn't avoid it anymore, but the topic she had to talk about didn't improve the situation or her mood.


	2. Chapter 2

"Mr. Stark?", the secretary of the person addressed, stepped into his office and directed her glance at the dark-haired man sitting behind the desk and raised her head as her voice shattered the silence.   
"What is it, Miss Jankinson?", he asked with raised eyebrows.   
"A pretty red-haired woman who introduced herself as her colleague wants to see you", the blonde who stood in the doorway explained to her boss and glanced over her shoulder at the person she had just announced.

Tony didn't need to know the name of the visitor. The remaining information he had was enough for him to know who was waiting.   
"Please send her in", he, therefore, asked with a nod and leaned back slightly on his desk chair. He thought he was pretty sure he knew why she came to see him. But he hadn't thought she would come to see him so soon. After all, she had been avoiding him noticeably lately. This had become quite clear after a few days.

Before he could think about it any further, Natasha appeared in the door frame and raised her head. She had tied her red hair into a braid and was dressed in sports clothes. Her arms had been crossed in front of her chest and her expression on her face told him that she had to know about what was in the news almost everywhere today. But how could he think that something like this would just pass by the famous Black Widow and best agent he knew.

"Hey, Nat", he couldn't help but smile a little: "What brings you to me?"   
Though he knew it himself, and she had to know it, too. So immediately she laid her head down and looked at him with a reproachful look: "You can't think for yourself?"   
Tony sighed and then nodded towards the exit: "Can you close the door, please, Nat?"   
The woman also replied with a short nod and turned around for a moment to close the door behind her. Then she turned again in his direction and took a few steps towards him.

"I'm just surprised that you seem to have decided to stay out of my way", he said and leaned forward a little towards her. If he was honest, her behavior had disturbed him for some reason. Especially since she was spending so much more time with Barton and Rogers. You couldn't call it jealousy - it was completely foreign to him - but it bothered him nonetheless.

"I don't have a choice", she commented with a discontented expression on her face, but her arms were loosening from the firm position. Although she had been aware that after a while he would also notice that she was avoiding him, she had somehow hoped for the opposite. To be honest, she had rather less desire to talk about what had happened between them. The current situation, however, really didn't leave her any other choice.

"After all, I don't want the whole world to see any sex tape", when she finally mentioned what they had been talking about all the time but which none of them had mentioned by name, she tensed up a bit.

Tony noticed his jaws stiffening slightly and instinctively he slowly rose from his chair: "It's not just any sex tape, Natasha. It's our sex tape."   
Her eyes narrowed slightly because that's what she hadn't wanted to hear for some reason. The fact that such a thing existed between the two of them was not good. What made it worse was that it was a moment of her weakness. A moment when she had felt drawn to him for some strange reason.

"So what? It doesn't matter right now", she said, shaking her head quickly, hoping to somehow bring the subject back to the essentials and thus to the solution of her problem. Thereupon she thought she noticed a touch of dissatisfaction in his face as he took a few steps towards her, but she didn't allow him to deepen the fact that they had had something together.   
"You'd better tell me why you did that", she replied and followed him as he walked around the table talking with her gaze.

"Why did I do what?", right in front of her he came to a stop and looked at her with questioning eyes. Now that he stood not two steps away from her, Natasha could feel again what she already knew when she was so close to him. It was as if there was an electric voltage between them, which caused an admittedly pleasant tingling on her skin and sent a warm shiver down her spine. And a slight flickering, even if it was only visible for a few seconds, told her that he must have felt it too.

"Why did you publish it?", she formulated her question a little more precisely and examined him with an inquiring eye.   
"What? No, not", he immediately started to shake his head and his expression was shocked when he looked at her: "What reason would I have to do that?"   
"I don't know", she shrugged and said: "But you and I are the only ones who know."   
"Yes, I know, but still I didn't do it", he replied, not turning his gaze away from her: "Even if I like it that it is something you cannot deny, and even if I could get you to admit that you don't find me as horrible as everyone thinks I am after all."

He reached out for her and let his fingers run light as a feather across her cheek before reaching for one of her red strands of hair, which she had tied in a braid, and wrapped it lightly around his fingers.   
"Even then I would not do it", he said, but to her disappointment, she saw no sign of lying in his face. Had it been him, it would have been easy. Easier to get the sex tape out of the news again and easily have a reason to be angry with him and therefore avoid him.

"And who was it if not you?", she pulled her hair out of his grasp and gave him a warning look.   
"I don't know", he replied, while his features softened: "But it is as important to me as it is to you that this doesn't appear on the news. I have already called my lawyers and promise you that I will do everything in my power to stop the media from publishing anything further about us. After all, to the people and the press, these are nothing more than rumors."

"Thank you, Stark", she nodded and then turned to face the door. Before she reached the exit, however, his voice sounded again, making her stop for a moment: "But I know the truth, and I'm sure you can't forget it either."   
"Think whatever you want", she replied and then set herself in motion again before his office finally left.


	3. Chapter 3

Natasha stepped out of the elevator when it stopped on the floor where the Avengers lived and walked straight through the hallway towards the door behind which her room was located. The conversation with Stark had unfortunately not helped her as much as she had hoped. For although she now knew that he wasn't responsible for it, it only made her smarter to a limited extent. After all, it still didn't tell her who was behind it. If it had been Stark, she would at least have known who it was now and would have been able to actively do something to get the matter out of the way. But when did it ever go optimally?

Arriving in her room, she took off her sports clothes, which she was still wearing, and decided to take a shower. That way she could escape the possible questions of the other Avengers, who probably had seen the news as well, at least a little longer. How she was going to explain this was not clear to her yet.

After she had finished her shower a quarter of an hour later and put on fresh clothes, she left her room again and made her way to the living room. However, she hoped that most of her colleagues had all left that day on missions or for some other reason that was just as good for her. After all, the news of her sex tape had certainly not passed them by. Except for Steve, who was not a very big Internet user.

When she entered the living room, she was surprised that none of the others were there. But she didn't complain about that, she just walked up to one of the sofas and sank on it. The day wasn't even over yet and yet she had already classified it as a bad one. However, she couldn't help but think about it further, as there didn't seem to be any good distraction around her.

It bothered her that there was nothing she could do about the fact that I spread the information about Tony and her. In moments like these, a feeling of powerlessness in the agent came over her and she hated it. Especially now that she had to rely on Tony and work with him. She was denied the opportunity to avoid him. However, as it also bothered her to be unable to do anything, she pulled out her mobile phone to have a look at the current news. Maybe it was not as bad as she thought. But when she read the titles of the first articles that appeared immediately, her heart grew heavy and her face lost its color. Damn, it looked a lot worse than she thought.

Meanwhile, Tony had decided that his company would do without him for a day. So he left his office and went to see his assistant, who was sitting behind her desk and seemed to have deepened her argument. But when he stopped in front of her, she raised her head and looked up at her boss: "Oh, Mr. Stark, is there anything I can do for you?"   
"Yes, there is one thing", he confirmed to her with a nod: "I'm working from my apartment for the rest of the day. Please forward all incoming calls to me."   
"Of course", the woman immediately replied, also nodding: "Will do, Mr. Stark. Have a nice day."   
A charming smile on her lips.   
"Thank you", he replied only before saying goodbye and heading for the elevator. He had often noticed that his assistant seemed to behave in a particularly charming manner when he was around.

In contrast to earlier times, he showed little interest in this. Instead, his thoughts were still with him when he talked to Natasha today. The first time she spoke to him again, he had imagined and honestly also hoped differently.

As soon as the 'ping' of the elevator sounded, the doors opened again and he looked straight into the apartment that all the Avengers were now sharing. Now he started moving again and went into the kitchen, hoping that one of his teammates had cooked and put the leftovers in the fridge. He did not feel like putting himself at the stove for a long time. On the way there, the billionaire crossed the living room, his eyes casually wandering towards the sitting area as if by magic. When he noticed her there, however, he stopped for a moment and looked at her, because she didn't seem to have noticed him herself - or maybe she didn't want to notice him. She held her cell phone in her hand and the movement of her eyes, as well as her facial expression, told him that she was reading something she didn't like at all. Probably one of the countless articles that had appeared in almost all the gossip magazines this morning.

After a few seconds, he went on into the kitchen, because he wanted to leave her at least this moment alone. After all, this would probably change in the next few days when her teammates came back and the news continued to make the rounds. After all, they were Iron Man and the Black Widow, who by now were probably one of the most famous superheroes in the world.

Once in the kitchen, he went straight to the fridge and took a look inside. To his surprise, there was a plate of noodles in there, which Tony took out immediately. At that moment he loved living with others. The dish was covered with a plastic sheet on which was a note whose writing he could immediately identify as Steve's.   
"This is mine. Hands off, Stark", it said, but Tony just carelessly took it down, crumpled it up and just threw it into the nearby trash can. Then he took the plate and put it in the microwave to heat the dish. After all, Steve wasn't here anyway and a simple note had never stopped Tony from just doing what he wanted.

While he waited, his thoughts inevitably wandered back to Natasha. But not to the sex tape itself, but to what had been between them before. There had been a noticeable sexual tension between the two of them before, which seemed to grow stronger with each time they spent more time together. Even when they had discussed or argued. It had always been as if something was drawing them together.

At one of his infamous parties, their fighting, without really aiming at it, quickly turned into flirting and subsequent kissing before it had become what got you into the current situation. But neither of them had been powerful enough to ignore what had happened between them. Maybe they had also hoped that it would disappear when they gave in to the attraction and allowed the tension to release all at once. As far as he could tell now, however, it had not worked. For only the short time she had been near him had caused the usual feeling in him, thus proving him wrong.


	4. Chapter 4

When Natasha stepped through the door of the training room, she immediately noticed the man they had arranged to meet here for training. The blond man had already entered the ring and jumped slightly back and forth while punching with his fists in the air.

"Are you starting without me, Steve?", she asked as she also walked towards the ring. When she arrived, she stopped and leaned her arms on the top of the ropes that surrounded the ring. Steve didn't seem to have noticed her until that moment, as he lowered his hands and turned to face her. He had wrinkled his forehead in a surprised expression, but when he saw her standing there, his forehead smoothed back and an inviting smile appeared on the man's lips.  
"Hey, Nat", with the words he also stepped a little to the edge. As so often, he seemed to be in a good mood himself and that's exactly what she needed more than desperately that day after things had proven to be pretty bad so far.

"Well, it took you a little longer", he explained with a shrug of his shoulders: "So I thought I might as well warm up a bit."  
"Sorry", she gave her friend an apologetic look. She had already finished and wanted to go into the room. But then Fury had called her and ordered her to join him in the helicarrier for the next day to finish her last mission with a final conversation.  
"Don't worry, I was probably late once in a while", the superhero waved, but she was sure he was just saying it to make her feel better. Steve was the most punctual and reliable person she knew.

"Shall we start now", Natasha asked, hoping to get some distance from her current problem.  
"Sure, gladly", Steve nodded in agreement and pulled the ropes of the ring apart so that she could slip through and step into him.

She quickly tied her hair into a braid and then went into her usual fighting position. Steve also stood up straight and raised his fists. "Where have you been until now", she asked curiously as he struck his first blow since he had only come back to the tower about an hour ago: "Were you on a mission?"  
Quick as lightning she jumped out of his way and stopped behind him.  
"No, not really", he replied and drove around to her to intercept her blow just in front of his chest. With a surprised look, she looked at him. What had he been doing most of the day?  
"What then?", she asked with interest.

"I met someone", he explained while trying to pull her legs out from under her body. With an inquiring look, she looked at his face and thought she saw in his gaze that he hadn't been seeing Bucky or any other friend.  
"With that sweetheart who moved in next to you?", she asked, and the slight blush that rose to his cheeks told her that she wasn't entirely wrong.

"I just think about being nice to my new neighbors", Steve muttered with a shrug, but the blush still didn't go away from his face. So I guess she was right about her being interesting for him and that he should talk to her.  
"So you listened to me", she said with a grin and kicked him against the ropes of the ring.  
"She is just a new neighbor and I have done nothing more than showing her the neighborhood", he made clear. Natasha didn't find it so hard to believe it either. Because even when she tried to set him up, she knew for herself that he had good manners and was a gentleman when it came to women. Unlike some other Avengers.

"But I heard something about you today", but then Steve came up with another topic: "More like you and Stark."  
As the other man's name sounded, she became unfocused for a moment and dropped her guard, whereupon Steve used his chance to punch her as well.

She staggered back a bit before she caught herself again, but kept looking at him with her mouth open. Steve was the last thing she thought he would know. How had he found out?  
"What do you mean?", she asked in an ignorant tone, though. Maybe he didn't mean what she thought he meant.  
"Nat, you know what I mean", Steve said with a slight tilt of the head.  
"I didn't think you watched the news", she looked at him in surprise. After all, he wasn't someone who spent a lot of time in the media.

"I didn't", he continued: "Bruce told me."  
So Bruce knew too?  
"Oh, great," she muttered, and she took another swing, but this time it hit the other guy harder than she wanted to.  
"Wow, Natasha, we're not enemies", he said as he dodged the punch.  
She sighed: "Sorry, Steve."  
"That's all right", he replied: "But is it true? That there was something between Stark and you?"  
She shrugged her shoulders slightly and avoided his gaze for a moment: "Maybe."  
"I know I probably shouldn't get involved, but you should be careful when it comes to him."  
"Yes, I know," she agreed with him. She had realized that you had to be careful with Stark. Unfortunately, that didn't stop her. Because even if she didn't like it and didn't want to hear it, Stark had his charm and, frankly, it wasn't easy for her to resist. Even if she wanted to.

"Then why did you get involved with him?", he kept going.  
"I don't know", she sighed back: "It's hard to explain."  
"Do you have feelings for him?", he went on.  
"What? No, obviously not", she immediately replied in an indignant tone of voice and looked at him in shock while shaking her head.


	5. Chapter 5

Sighing, Natasha leaned her head against Clint's shoulder. Surely by now everyone had seen the news and knew that there was a sex tape between Stark and her. As long as it was not published, she could at least try to deny it. But if it really should be released, she had no idea what to do. On the other hand, he was also Tony Stark and if he wanted to, he could do everything he could to prevent that.

As if Clint had read her thoughts, he lowered his eyes on her and stroked her back reassuringly: "Don't worry so much, Nat."  
"How can I not?" she asked and a spark of desperation was heard in her voice.   
"Tony has enough lawyers to handle this for you", he explained.   
"Yes, I know", she replied and reached into the popcorn bowl they had already prepared for the whole team's movie night together.

"Or don't you see that as your biggest problem?", he checked and if she was completely honest, he was right. He knew her far too well. Her only concern was not that everyone in New York probably knew about it by now. What bothered her, even more, was that she hadn't been able to stop thinking about Stark all day and wondering how he had managed to get her around the night the sex tape was made. Normally she wasn't very keen on spending much time with him. However, there had been an attraction between them for some time now, which she didn't like at all. But even after they had had sex, she had not disappeared against her hopes. No one knew anything about it, though. Especially not Tony himself.

That's why she was more than happy that at that moment the rest of her team came into the room and saved her from having to answer Clint's question. She raised her head from his shoulder and looked at the other Avengers who were spread out on the sofas next to them.   
"So what do we want to watch today?", Clint asked into the round.

"How nice that you waited for me", Tony's voice sounded from near the door at that moment and Natasha's gaze automatically wandered in that direction. The dark-haired man was standing in the doorway, but he pushed away from it to move towards his colleagues.   
"It's not our fault if you're not on time, Stark", it came from Steve, whose voice had suddenly taken on a challenging tone. A tone of voice that was well known by both men, and which had led to many an argument recently.

"Steve, please don't start like that again," Natasha intervened, as she didn't want her movie night to be prevented by fights. Steve just looked back and forth between Tony and her for a moment, but then nodded and sighed as he let himself sink back into the sofa cushions. Fortunately, he was someone who realized that she was right at that moment and just let it go. With Tony, she didn't even have to try something like that.

"I love it when you take my side, Nat", came Tony's voice and when she gave him a look, he winked at her with a little grin. She gave him a warning look, but she felt a hot shiver running down her back. Damn, why did he have to have that effect on her?

He grinned, but didn't say anything more about it, he just walked towards the free space on the sofa and let himself sink next to her. She took a quick look at Clint but didn't move away from him.

"Don't you want to know why I'm late", she then asked into the round, while he pulled a piece of the blanket Natasha had put over her legs towards her. "Yes," Thor now said with a look full of interest.   
"I've planned a party", he explained with a satisfied grin.   
"But why? Is there any reason for it?", Bruce now joined in.   
"I don't need reasons to have parties," he said: "You should know that by now."   
He wasn't wrong, considering how often he already had parties in the Tower. However, they all had to admit that they didn't think that was so bad. It was exactly his parties that were always more than entertaining.

However, this announcement didn't trigger too many friends in her this time. After all, she remembered all too well what happened the last time he had hosted a party. But that would never happen again. She wasn't going to let it happen again. Finally, she felt the aftermath of the last time, which she didn't see as something positive at that moment.

"Maybe it's not such a bad idea", Bucky said, adding to the conversation: "I mean, we could break up another one of Stark's parties to get a little down. Cause honestly, we're all pretty overwrought right now."


	6. Chapter 6

Tony stared at the ceiling above him. He had already turned off the light an hour ago, hoping that it would make it easier for him to finally fall asleep. But no. Instead, he now just lay there and tried to escape his thoughts. He turned his head slightly to the side, which made his eyes fall through the floor-to-ceiling windows, through which the few lights of the city of millions at night illuminated his room slightly. In moments like these, he hated not being able to simply come to rest and fall asleep. But almost every night his past had different plans for him. But this time that was not the problem. Instead, his mind was somewhere else. And that was with a certain team member who just wouldn't let him stop.

Natasha Romanoff had been going through his thoughts for quite some time now and he couldn't help but think about what had happened today. For a long time she had avoided him, but to be honest, this had begun to bother him. After all, he was not used to this kind of thing from a woman. Especially after they had had sex. Her behavior almost made him think that she regretted it and probably that was exactly what Natasha tried to tell herself.

But then there were always these glances they threw at each other and the sexual tension he felt between them, which he knew Natasha could feel as well, and he began to doubt that she didn't feel anything for him. And if he was honest, he wanted her to have more feelings for him than she was willing to admit. However, he could not think of a way to get her to finally see that for herself and admit it.

Sighing, he pushed his blanket aside and sat up after a few seconds in which he had continued to just lie there. Now only one thing would help him. Alcohol! He reached for his socks that he had thrown on the floor and put them on before getting out of bed and slowly moving towards the door.

He pushed down the door handle and stepped out into the hall, which was also completely dark. The other Avengers must have been asleep at this time, like any normal human being. After all, they had all been awake for quite a long time before the first ones had gone to their bedrooms. He had to think of Natasha again and felt his heart make a slight leap. He had deliberately sat down next to her but expected her to move away from him or even change places completely. To his astonishment, however, exactly that had not happened and she had simply stayed in place.

When he had almost reached the living room, he suddenly noticed a cone of light coming out of the room and throwing a little light into the hallway. His forehead wrinkled as his stride slowed down a little. So he didn't seem to be the only one who was still awake at this time. Which of his Avenger colleagues could be, however, didn't tell him. After all, they all had their very own demons that were hunting them at night. Some of them more than others, though.

In the door frame, he stopped for a moment and took a look into the room. There he saw a man with long, black hair sitting in front of the bar, leaning with his elbows on the tabletop. In front of him stood a glass, now half-empty, with a presumably alcoholic liquid in it, to which the man had lowered his gaze.

"Hey Bucky", he raised his voice as he walked towards the other man. This made him raise his head and look in the direction the voice was coming from. It seemed to take a few seconds, but then he recognized him and nodded to greet him: "Hey."   
Arriving at his place, Tony let himself sink next to him on one of the free bar stools and threw a meaningful look at the glass in front of Bucky: "Will you make me a drink too?" "I didn't know you drank vodka", he frowned, but then rose.   
"Tonight I'll drink anything", he said back. Normally, he drank whiskey or bourbon, but at that moment he didn't care. He just wanted to feel that familiar alcoholic burning in his throat.

"What's the matter with you?", Bucky grabbed one of the bottles and an empty glass before he started to fill it. He gave him a look of wonder.   
"You'd better not ask", he refused to give a proper answer However, he knew that Bucky would not let him get away with it. Since he was part of the Avengers, the two men had started spending time together and, to his surprise, had become something of friends.

"It's Natasha, isn't it?", Bucky asked after a few seconds while he pushed the drink over to Tony. His look was knowing. Had it been that obvious? He knew he could tell Bucky about it, though. Probably the best idea, though, considering that he had known Natasha since she was young and probably knew him as well or even better than Clint. Bucky, unlike the archer, would be more willing to help him, though. At least he hoped he would.

"Possibly", he replied as he took the glass and brought it to his lips for a sip. At Bucky's reproachful gaze, however, he gave in, leading him to an honest answer: "Yes, it is." Bucky smiled slightly: "I knew it."   
"How do you know?", he frowned, questioningly. How had it been so obvious? "  
Oh, come on", Bucky tilted his head slightly, then lowered himself back beside him: "Everybody can see there's something between you."   
"Anyone but her", he muttered more to himself than to Bucky, looking for a moment at the liquid in his glass as he poured it lightly from one side to the other. Then out of the corner of his eye, he looked back at Bucky: "You've known each other a long time, haven't you?"

To which Bucky nodded: "Yes, I suppose you could say that."   
"So, you got any advice for me on what to do?", Bucky raised one eyebrow while he stared at Tony's face as if trying to figure out what his intentions were: "Why exactly are you asking?"   
"I want her to finally admit what's happening between us and stop avoiding me", he explained, but they both knew that wasn't the only reason.   
"I find it somewhat paradoxical that you ask me. After all, you are known for attracting women magically and you can be charming when you want to", his counterpart argued. "We both know that she is not like other women", Tony replied after taking a few sips of the vodka.

They did indeed. After all, they had both spent long enough time with the woman in question.   
"But if you have real interest in her, show it to her", Bucky's voice had a serious tone mixed in: "Dance with her at your parties and pay attention to her. Let your charm play a little. Because honestly, we both know that there's something between you that she's trying to repress, but can't do it forever if you don't let her get out of your way."   
Tony nodded and emptied his drink in one go. His friend was right about that and maybe that wasn't such a bad idea. And this plan would not be a real problem for him either. After all, she was the only one his mind was on and he wanted.


	7. Chapter 7

As Natasha approached the living room, the music was already reaching her ears. She had already missed the beginning of the party. But this fact did not bother her much. After all, the night was still young and so she could at least mingle with the people who were already there and get a little drunk first.

With one hand she opened the big doors and entered the room. This room was already filled with a considerable number of people who were talking and had trouble drowning out the music. Most of them held champagne glasses in their hands and stood around or danced in the middle of the room. It almost seemed as if Tony had put a glass in the hand of everyone who kicked the room.

At the thought of Tony, she couldn't help but let her gaze wander. Whether she did it just to see him or to avoid him, she couldn't quite tell. After a few seconds, she saw him next to some men and women with whom he seemed to have an animated conversation. Typical Tony, she thought, but then averted her gaze and hoped to find Clint or Bucky somewhere. But far and wide there was no sign of either of them and she decided to head for the bar instead.

There she settled down on one of the barstools next to some other people and looked around for the bartender who was drying some glasses while he was talking to a woman and seemed to have no eyes for his other customers. Great, then it would probably take long until she finally got her drink.

She used the minutes to check out the people around her before the bartender could finally get away from his lady and get the idea to take care of his other customers.   
"Hey, what can I do for you?", his voice sounded in front of her and she turned her head away from the people next to her.   
"A vodka, please?", she ordered.   
"Without anything else?", he asked with a furrowed forehead and reached for an empty glass.   
"Yes, without anything else", she nodded confidently at her decision.   
"Is someone trying to drink away his problems?", he looked at her with a knowing look, whereupon she only made an ambiguous sound. He was probably the last person she wanted to talk to about it.

Then he seemed to realize why he didn't say anything more about it, but simply prepared her order and pushed the drink over to her.   
"Thank you", she muttered before she brought the glass to her lips and took the first sip. The liquid burned pleasantly in her throat and for some reason, the smell reminded her of her childhood.

"I guess you forgot to greet the host", a voice sounded behind her that was all too familiar to her and that she had not hoped to hear so soon. With all her strength she tried to suppress a sigh while she looked over her shoulder. Behind her, she discovered Tony, who to her surprise had an amused smile on his lips.   
"I live here too, Stark", she replied and turned a little on her chair to get a good view of him. He took a few steps towards her.   
"Yes, I know, and I think that's more than good", She rolled her eyes slightly as she took another sip.

"But it would have done you some good", he explained to her and came to a stop in front of her. She raised one eyebrow: "And what exactly?"   
"You'll find out when you dance with me", with a confident expression on his face, he extended an inviting hand to her.   
"And what if I don't want to know?", she raised her right eyebrow critically.   
"You will want to know, believe me", he assured her, however.   
"And you can't just tell me?", she leaned back a little on her stool.   
"I could, but I'd like to dance with you and that way it would be a win-win situation for both of us", he told her. She had tried to avoid exactly such situations, which had worked quite well until now. However, she could hardly refuse the offer. After all, she couldn't rule out that he needed information for her and she was sure that he wouldn't tell her that way. So what choice did she have?

"All right", she sighed after a few seconds thinking about it: "But keep your hands to yourself, Stark."   
She reached for his hand and let him pull her off the stool.   
"I'm doing my best", he grinned slightly, but she looked at him and saw that he did not intend to do anything she did not want to do.


	8. Chapter 8

Tony gently pulled her across the room to the spot that Natasha thought she identified as the dance floor. There they came to a halt and he let go of her hand, which he had held until that moment. He seemed to intend to comply with her request. But then he put his hands on her hips and pulled her gently but firmly towards him. She let him, but immediately felt the sensation of his body on her own, which didn't feel that unfamiliar. Instead, she even had to say that it wasn't a particularly bad feeling. But she would never let him know that.

"By the way, you look very hot tonight", Tony remarked after a few seconds and she noticed how he let his gaze wander over her body. With his words, he alluded to her red dress, which was tight against her body and emphasized her curves. Her long red hair fell in gentle curls over her shoulder and her lips were painted in a bright red.   
"Tony", she said in a warning tone of voice, but he was not deterred.   
"I'm only telling you the truth", he argued, gently stroking her arm with one finger, giving her goosebumps: "And you know I find it hard to ignore that."   
He was indeed right, but she tried to convince herself that she had not thought of him for a second when she chose her clothes.

He gently grabbed her narrow wrists to place them on his shoulders before releasing them and putting his hands back on her hips. Then he began to move slowly and she followed his movements almost automatically.

She didn't know why she let him do it, but for a few seconds, they just danced without her talking about why she had gotten involved in this whole thing in the first place. And admittedly, she didn't dislike it that much. But then she broke the silence between them: "So, what did you want to tell me?"   
"My lawyers called", he told her, while he seemed to stare at her face. This made him notice how she swallowed but kept looking at him. But he could see in her eyes that she was not expecting anything too good. He released one hand from her hips and stroked her cheek gently and at the same time reassuringly: "You could stop the press from publishing our sex tape."   
He felt her lean gently into his touch, but when he mentioned the sex tape, she tensed under his fingers.   
"Please don't call it 'our sex tape'", she begged with a straight face. He lowered his hand again, fearing she would push him away: "But that's exactly what it is, Nat. It's a video of the two of us having sex. Why are you denying it?"

She looked briefly at the people around her as if she wanted to walk away, that no one had heard what he said before she looked back at him. She made an effort to open her mouth, but then closed it again and just looked at him. But in her eyes, he recognized the conflict that was reflected in her eyes.   
"Do you regret it that much?", he asked as he gently stroked her hips. But that didn't seem to make an answer any easier for her, which Tony also noticed.

So he did not know the agent and for this moment that was enough for him to answer. After all, there was something that had prevented her from answering his question with 'yes' and that made him think that she didn't regret it as much as she didn't want it to appear on the outside. And inside she knew that too.

"Do you already know who sent it to the press?", she changed the subject after a few seconds, during which they had simply danced quietly together. "No, not yet," he shook his head: "But we will, and then you're welcome to kick that person's ass."

"I could get used to that", she agreed with him, and the expression he was used to seeing in her face appeared: "But you couldn't just tell me that at the bar?"   
It reassured him a little that suddenly her old familiar self was back because with this Natasha he knew what he could do with her and what he should rather leave alone.   
"Yes, but then you would have missed my great dancing skills", he said with a confident grin.   
"Well, so far I would rather call it average, but believe what you want", she replied. He raised one eyebrow and expression appeared on his face, telling her that he had accepted the challenge. But before she could say anything more or even think about freeing herself from him, he had already wrapped one arm around her and let her sink backward almost like in tango before he pulled her back to her body. But this time even closer than before.

"I thought you would know by now that I am not to be underestimated", he replied, leaning his forehead lightly against hers. He could feel her breath on his face, so close they were to each other, and noticed how great her perfect body nestled against hers. Almost as if they were made for each other. And he could almost feel her heart beating faster against his chest. But that didn't stop him from noticing how she lowered her eyes to his lips and lightly moistened her own with her tongue.

"Nat", he whispered warningly and slightly strengthened his grip around her hips: "Don't do that. It's more than counterproductive."   
For a moment, everything inside him contracted and he had to pull himself together so he wouldn't lean any closer to taste her lips.


	9. Chapter 9

Natasha sat down on Tony's desk chair, crossed her legs and sank against the backrest.   
"Can you hand me the wrench that's lying on the desk next to you?", Bruce's pleading voice sounded to her right.   
"Sure", she replied and then looked for the wrench that lay on the glass table between some other tools. Overall, Bruce had created a huge mess in Tony's workshop that Tony wouldn't necessarily be happy about when he saw it. And this although Tony himself was good at creating chaos.

"Here", she took the wrench and handed it over to Bruce, who had been working on some machine all morning.   
"Thank you", the dark-haired man picked it up and put it straight into use.   
"So? Is Tony as good of a dancer as he always says?", Bruce asked after a few seconds of silence, during which she had simply watched him do his thing.

"Um, what?", his question surprised her quite a bit.   
"Well, you should know," Bruce continued: "After all, you danced together for quite a long time at his party."   
"No, I don't know what you mean", she shrugged and made an innocent face, even though she knew exactly what he meant. However, Tony and her relationship with him was not what she would like to talk about with her colleagues if it could not be avoided somehow. Inwardly she could not help but admit that when it came to dancing, Tony knew what he was doing. But who was surprised by that? After all, the man was almost always sure of what he was doing. Or at least he always made it seem so to the outside world.

"Natasha", his tone told her that he knew exactly what her words didn't correspond to what she thought: "I know Tony quite well and I've lived with you long enough to know you at least a little bit and that's enough for me to know when you're both lying and lately you both seem to show quite a lot to look for excuses or avoid them when you're addressed to each other and your feelings." She swallowed lightly and turned her eyes to the floor. Great, why did it seem so obvious to every other Avenger that something was going on between them? However, it annoyed her even more that it was so easy for her colleagues to recognize when she wasn't telling the truth. After all, she was an agent - perhaps one of the best trained in the world - and yet she seemed bad at hiding what she felt about Stark from people she knew.

"There's nothing between Stark and me", she said, shaking her head, and then added emphatically: "Really."   
"Well, in that case, you can easily go to Tony for me and give him something from me", he suggested and stood up from his chair to take a stack of papers from the table on her left and hold it out to Natasha. There was no challenging expression on his face, though, like Bucky, Clint or Steve would be putting it on at that moment. At least they seemed to be more inclined to do so lately. Instead, he just raised his eyebrows a little bit and looked at them pleadingly. But she also knew that he was trying to test her with it.

She lowered her gaze to the folder in Bruce's hands but hesitated to reach for it. If she refused, Bruce would only see this as confirmation of his theory - the scientist in him came through again - and would not leave her alone with Tony anymore, just like her other friends. So what choice did she have? However, she wasn't necessarily going to visit Tony more often than necessary. Dancing with him had not exactly strengthened her resistance.

"All right", Natasha said after a few seconds in a surprisingly confident tone of voice: "I'll bring it to you so you can get back to work."   
She reached out her hands to take the stack of paper from him and stood up.   
"Thanks, Nat", a little smile appeared on his lips and he handed her the papers.   
"Do you know where he is right now?", she asked while she was already walking towards the glass door of the workshop.   
"Probably in his office," Bruce replied: "At least he mentioned this morning that he wanted to work today."


	10. Chapter 10

Tony heard the sound of clacking heels outside his office door and instinctively lifted his head in anticipation of his assistant, who would presumably knock on the door at any moment and then enter. So he turned his eyes away from his computer screen and instead looked expectantly at the door.

However, contrary to his expectations, he did not hear the typical hesitant knocking of his assistant, but an unusually confident knocking from a person who did not even wait for him to 'come in', but who, after a few seconds, simply opened the door and entered his office. The sight of the person arriving made a surprised expression appear on his face.

"Hello Natasha", he said, leaning back on his chair a little bit, hoping to cover his rather obvious surprise with confidence.   
"What brings you to me? Have you already started to miss me", he asked with an amused grin on his lips: "Or has something else happened again for which you want to blame me?"

With this, he alluded to the last time she had snowed into his office after someone had published information about her sex tape and had thought that he had done it himself. He had never really been mad about it, but still, he couldn't help but tease her with it. It made sense that she had considered that he might have been behind it. After all, he was the only person who knew about it and the one who kept the video. Besides, he had been trying to get her to admit that she liked him more than she usually wanted to make it seem and he still did at that time. However, this thing was something he would not do. Because he knew that she would never forgive him if he did something like that and he would never do anything to lose her.

"No, of course not", she said, shaking her head, and then left her place at the door to go to his desk.   
"But you're never here just like that", he replied, curious about the reason behind it.   
"Yes", but it just came from her and she stopped beside him. He raised one eyebrow: "Really?"   
Then he looked at the file in her hands: "What is this then?"   
"All right", she sighed slightly and handed him the papers: "Bruce asked to go to your house and bring you this."

Tony felt a slight disappointment building up inside him. However, he had realized that there must be a reason for her appearance, so he simply pushed this feeling to that side and took the file out of her hand: "Thank you."   
He placed the stack of paper in front of him on the desk and turned to the first page to get a glimpse of what it was all about.   
"Why did Bruce ask you out of all people to do this?", he asked casually, as he glanced at the technical drawings on the first page. Immediately he recognized his newest suit in between, which was enough for him, so he closed the file again after a few seconds while continuing to look over to Natasha from the corner of his eye.   
"I was with Bruce in the workshop all morning watching him work", she explained with a shrug of the shoulder and with one hand leaned slightly on one of the armrests of his chair.

"How did it happen?", he raised one eyebrow. Normally Natasha hung out with Clint, Bucky or even Steve and as far as he knew, they were all in the Tower today and not on any missions as usual. So why did she choose Bruce of all people to spend time with him? The scientist was a good listener and working partner - Tony and Bruce had become real laboratory partners through their frequent collaboration and Bruce was one of the few who had access to his workshop even in Tony's absence - but he had never seen Natasha and Bruce spend much time together and he didn't expect them to be interested in the same topics. But Natasha was always good for a surprise.

"My other friends are rather tiring at the moment", she said with a slight rolling of the eyes. He had no difficulty imagining what she meant.   
"They just don't have a love life themselves", he pushed the file away slightly and leaned against his backrest to give it his full attention again.   
"Neither do I", she argued, whereupon Tony, however, only looked at her with a serious expression on his face: "Yes, you do."   
She pressed her jaws slightly together but said nothing. In her mind, she finally knew that he was right, too.

"But it doesn't matter why you came here", he said after a few seconds in which they had simply looked at each other as if they were trying to find out what their counterpart was thinking.   
"I only care that you seem not to have decided to avoid me any more", he added. Without being able to stop himself, he put his hand on hers, which was still lying on the back of his chair. To his surprise, she didn't flinch or interrupt the touch, as he had expected her to.

"We are together in a team. I couldn't have done that forever anyway. Besides, we should work together to find the person who's to blame for this thing in the first place", she explained and bit her lip slightly: "Besides, maybe it's not so bad to spend time with you after all."   
"Wait, did I misheard you or did you really said that?", He raised his eyebrows in amazement: "Could you say that again, please?"   
She rolled her eyes and freed her hand from his: "Don't ruin it, Stark."   
"No, wait", he said immediately and tried to reach for her hand again, but she had already gone around him. There she stopped and put one hand on his shoulder while looking at the picture that was still on the screen of his computer.

"What are you looking at?", she asked with a curious look. On the computer, Tony seemed to have just watched a video, which he had paused when she came in. The still screen showed a face she hadn't hoped to see again too soon.   
"Isn't that Justin Hammer?", she asked, raising an eyebrow critically.

She felt Tony's arms wrap around her hips, gently pulling her towards him. To his surprise, she allowed this to happen without protest as usual.   
"Yes, unfortunately", he rolled his eyes slightly.   
"Why do you voluntarily watch a video of him?", she asked with a furrowed brow. She could still remember her last encounter with Tony's competitor quite well, which, if she had her way, might have been even longer ago than it was. She was not exactly keen on meeting him again. After all, he had gotten Tony and his friend Rhodey into a lot of trouble at their last meeting and she could do without that.

"That's the news", Tony replied with a scornful look: "I really can't believe that they're reporting about someone like Hammer. After all, he is nothing more than a cheap wannabe copy of me."   
"You have such a big ego, Tony", she rolled her eyes slightly, but could not help but smile an amused grin.   
"Yeah, I know", he grinned slightly: "But you like that."   
"Tony", she said warningly, but could not help but agree with him inwardly. He winked at her grin but said nothing to her.

"Do you think he might have something to do with this", she asked after a few seconds and turned her gaze back to the screen. He thought about her words for a moment but then nodded slowly: "Possibly." It wasn't that improbable at all. After all, Hammer seemed to want to use every opportunity to get back at Tony for refusing to work with him on countless occasions.


	11. Chapter 11

Natasha watched the coffee go through the machine. She sat alone in the kitchen on a chair at the kitchen table. She hadn't seen the other Avengers all morning and, to be honest, didn't feel like looking for them. So she was able to escape Bucky and Clint's taunts, as well as Steve's assertions that Tony was a bad man, at least for a little while longer.

When she heard footsteps behind her, she sighed slightly and prepared herself inwardly for a conversation with her friends, in which she would reassure them once again that she had no interest in Tony. Even though she knew inside herself that this was not as true as it had been a few days before they had danced together. But the footsteps stopped before someone appeared in her field of vision, so Natasha took a look over her shoulder.

In the door frame stood Tony, who had leaned slightly against it and let her gaze wander over her.   
"Hey, you stalker," she greeted him but had to control herself to keep a small grin off her face.   
"Hey," he replied: "And I'm not stalking you. I only enjoyed the sight for a moment after you left my office yesterday."   
She rolled her eyes slightly: "I was just supposed to drop stuff off for Bruce. Nothing more."   
"That's a bad excuse," commented Tony with a teasing grin as he pushed himself off the door frame to walk past her. She followed him with her gaze as he went to the coffee machine and poured herself her coffee.   
"But you can make it up to me", he grinned at her as he sipped at the cup.   
"I didn't know I had to make anything up to you," she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Still, she was interested in what he would suggest, so she decided not to refuse immediately.

Tony skillfully hid it behind his cup as he pressed his lips lightly together. He had not wanted to hear that answer. He too knew that there was nothing she could do to make up for, but he had hoped to be able to at least give an excuse for his request. Even though he did not like to admit it, he did not like the thought that she could refuse his request. But he tried not to let it show as much as possible: "So you don't want to know what you could do for me?"   
A challenging move played around the corners of his mouth, which again rose playfully.

He took a few steps towards the table where she was sitting and let himself sink into the chair opposite her. Natasha looked at him for a moment and said, "Yes, I do."   
"So you are interested after all?" he went into it, whereupon she shrugged, "Maybe."   
Tony had to hold back an unsatisfied sigh. The ease with which she had made concessions in his office seemed to have vanished again. At least for now. He wasn't ready to give up, though.

"I would have asked you out for dinner," he revealed with a grin: "But you're not interested."   
He emptied his cup in one go and made an effort to get up. Natasha's heart made a light sentence when she heard what he wanted her to do.   
"I didn't say that," she replied before he got up from the table, although she would probably bite her ass for that later.   
"So you'd go out with me?", he examined her closely to make sure she meant it and wouldn't turn him down at the next moment.   
"Yes, I think so", she nodded affirmatively, but even at that moment, she was not sure why she said that.

Although Tony was surprised to hear her agreeing, he decided not to question her decision but to be happy that she had not refused.   
"Okay, then be ready at eight o'clock", a winning smile appeared on his lips.   
"Where are we going?", asked Natasha with eyebrows raised, but he just shook his head: "You'll find out soon enough."   
With these words, he left the room, thus depriving her of the opportunity to pursue her further.

When the door behind him fell into the lock, Natasha sank slightly against the back of her chair. What had she just agreed to? It was probably pretty stupid to go out with Tony - especially when you think about what happened the last time they got closer. Something had stopped her from saying 'no', and if she was honest, the question of what he intended to do with her aroused her curiosity. So she would probably have no choice but to meet him and see for herself what he wanted to do. As she knew Tony and his stubbornness, he would not tell her just like that.


	12. Chapter 12

He had leaned against the wall next to the elevator and waited there until eight o'clock finally arrived. Before that, he had spent the day planning the date but had finished some time ago. He just wanted to make everything as good as possible. Because even if he wasn't usually interested in dating any women, this time it was different. This was not just any date and Natasha was not just any woman. She was far from that and that was one of the reasons why he liked her. Natasha had something special about her for him. But now that the time had come, a more than untypical nervousness began to build up in him.

When her room door opened, Tony raised his head. Natasha stood in the door frame of her bedroom and looked at him.   
"Hey", she greeted him with a little smile.   
"Hey," he replied and could not help but let his gaze wander over her. Even though it was probably much too obvious. But why should he make a secret of the fact that he liked her, except for his ego? However, at this moment it was more than indifferent to him if she would ever belong to him in his life.

Natasha wore a long, red dress with a high slit on the right side that allowed a view of one of her long, beautiful legs. She had her long, red hair pinned up so that only two strands of hair hung out in front. There was red lipstick on her lips, which only drew his gaze to it more than usual.   
"Wow," the only thing he could say at first was, "You look beautiful, Tasha."

She also let her eyes wander over him: "I can only give that back."   
He pushed himself off the wall and walked towards her. He stopped in front of her and put his hand on her hips, amazed that she let him: "Thank you."   
"But I don't like the thought of other men seeing you like this at all," he then admitted and reached for her hand.   
"Do I see a little jealousy in your eyes?", she teased him with a little grin, while she examined his face carefully as if she were trying to read in it.

"Perhaps" he reluctantly admitted it, but she was not so wrong about that. Outwardly, he tried to let it show as best he could, but nothing showed.   
"But right now I'm the one who's allowed to go on a date with you," he explained and played with one of her strands: "So at least right now I have no reason to."   
"No, I guess not," she agreed, while she lightly interlocked her fingers with his.

"Are you ready then? Can we go?", he asked her again for safety's sake.   
"Yes, I'm ready," she confirmed with a nod and then set off together with him. In front of the elevator, she came to a stop and pressed the button. A few seconds later the doors opened and they both stepped inside.

When she was not looking at him, he lowered his eyes to her interlaced hands. If he was honest, he had expected much more resistance on her part. After all, she was usually pretty good at denying that she at least didn't completely hate him. At least that's how he had started to sound the last few days, otherwise, she wouldn't have agreed to a date with him. Although she didn't agree immediately, which scratched his ego a bit. However, he would not make her regret that she had agreed to a date with him.

"Where are we going?" she asked and looked curiously over at him: "You said I'd find out if I went on a date with you."   
Tony opened his mouth to start an answer but was interrupted by the 'ping' of the elevator and the subsequent sliding doors. He gently pulled her up with him into the underground car park where they were now and opened the passenger door of a black Mustang. "You'll find out when we get there," he let go of her hand and got out on the other side: "I seem to remember that you like Chinese. Is that still true?"   
"Yes, I do," she confirmed with a nod and fastened her seat belt while he started the engine. Frankly, she hadn't expected him to know anything like that about her.   
"Very well, as for the rest, you'll have to be surprised," he explained with a satisfied smile and steered the car towards the exit of the garage, but again reached out for hers and gently enclosed her with his, which was much bigger than his.


	13. Chapter 13

When the engine died, Tony immediately unbuckled his seat belt and got out to open the door for Natasha. She let him help her, although this was more than untypical for her, and a few seconds later stood with him on the sidewalk in the middle of the heart of New York. Standing. All around were skyscrapers, but she never saw anything that looked like a restaurant. Though it could not be said of her that she knew her way around the New York restaurant scene. She didn't usually go out to eat very much. At least, not counting her missions.

"This way," Tony explained, after watching her look around for a few seconds. Gently he pulled her with him in one direction and she followed him immediately.   
"And you still don't want to tell me any more?" Natasha asked him once more while he put an arm around her hips and she leaned against him slightly as if by instinct.   
"No, I don't want to," he answered shaking his head and pulled her a little closer to him when he felt that his closeness didn't seem to bother her: "Just let yourself be surprised." "I am a spy. So letting me surprise is not my specialty," she explained with a grin as she walked with him towards one of the large glass buildings.

"Oh, please, Tony," she poked him slightly in the side with her elbow: "Just tell me."   
"Perhaps I would trade the info for a kiss," he wagged his eyebrows slightly as he looked down at her. She tilted her head slightly, but a little grin fluttered across her lips: "Don't push it, Stark."   
"So we're back to 'Stark' now," he remarked as they walked through the entrance of the building towards another elevator. But Natasha only had eyes for him at that moment. "Besides, you can't tell me I'm a bad kisser," he added with a knowing look.

Natasha bit her lip slightly. She knew exactly that it was not a good idea to answer this question. If she was completely honest with herself, she knew that he was right. Eventually, her heart started beating faster just at the thought of their last kiss together and a pleasant fluttering started to spread in the pit of her stomach. However, it would probably make his ego rise immeasurably if she let him know that and not only herself would hate herself for it later, but also her colleagues, who wouldn't miss it either.

"Don't overestimate yourself," she simply said but avoided his gaze while speaking. Tony didn't seem to have missed that either, whereupon he looked at her knowing: "Shall I refresh your memories again? Gently he ran his thumb across her jaw while she leaned slightly against the wall of the elevator.   
"Don't do this, Tony," she reached for his hand to stop him from moving on.   
"Why?" he asked in return, but put his hand back to her hip while he continued to look at her questioningly.   
"Because that's not the reason why I'm meeting you right now," she replied. "What is the reason?", he asked honestly interested as he drew small circles on her hip bone with his finger.

She swallowed slightly. She wasn't aware of it herself, but she knew that she wasn't just here to make out with him, but for a much deeper reason.   
"I guess I want to spend time with you," she said after a few seconds, "And the rest will maybe follow when we finish eating." Tony had to say that he liked what she said and that it was exactly what he wanted. Because even if he liked the idea of having physical contact with her, he wanted more from her than that.   
"I think I could get used to that," he said with a smile.   
"Thank you," she replied and sat down with him in motion when the elevator finally came to a stop.

"So we are officially dating now?", she asked as she slowly moved past the other people who were dressed as smartly as Natasha and Tony themselves. She never expected that she would ever say such a thing about Tony and herself.   
"Hmm", you could see him thinking before after a few seconds a mischievous grin appeared on his lips: "I could have a better formulation."   
"And what is it?", Natasha asked and frowned. This expression did not necessarily lead her to expect the best.   
"You could just call yourself my girlfriend," he suggested, knowing, however, that he was again treading thin ice. She made him feel that right away: "Don't push it too far, Tony."


	14. Chapter 14

"So? Was our date to your satisfaction?" Tony asked as he stopped the car in the underground garage again and got out with her.   
"More than that," she nodded as she walked back up the elevator with him. At the thought of the evening, a broad smile appeared on her lips.

He had taken her to a restaurant high in the air on a spacious balcony. Cherry blossom trees had been planted there and created a unique picture in the darkness of the night. They had found a table at the edge and Tony had shown her where the Avengers Tower and other places she liked were from up there. To her surprise, he had known where she spent a lot of time. In general, she had seen that evening that he might have got to know her better than she had thought. Usually, she was not a big fan of people knowing so much about her - probably something like a side effect of her job at S.H.I.E.L.D. - but with him, to her surprise, she didn't mind.

"That's what I like to hear," Tony ripped her out of her thoughts and stepped into the elevator with her. After they had talked about it, he had not tried to take any further steps and Natasha had relaxed too noticeably. Now that they were here again, she had to admit that she wouldn't mind if he went on. After all, she had only allowed him to turn off his suggestive comments during the meal.

As the elevator doors closed behind them, she looked over at him and noticed once again that evening how damned good he looked. Usually, this was a thought that she would suppress or simply push aside as best she could, but at that moment she didn't care.

"You know," she started, "I told you we could see what else was developing after dinner."   
So she got Tony to fixate on her with his gaze and raise an eyebrow. He probably could guess what she wanted to say and was already wondering inside that she made this suggestion.   
"And I think I might have a suggestion," she went on. He opened his mouth to say something about it, but then simply left it when she put her arms in his neck and closed the gap between them. Then, without thinking about it any further, she bent forward and put her lips gently on his to involve him in a kiss.

Tony was perplexed at first, but then loosened up after a few seconds: "Do you think that's a good idea, Tasha? I mean, we both know what happened last time."   
"Probably it's not," she admitted and leaned her forehead slightly against his while he ran his fingers gently over her back. He had to pull himself together to interrupt her and not follow his desire to feel her pressed against his body.   
"But I want to," she then added.

"Don't you remember what happened the last time we went further," he reminded her again: "I don't want you to be angry with me again afterward. I like the way things are between us right now."   
"Don't worry, I like the way things are too, and I think we both learned something from the sex tape thing," she agreed with him: "But if you don't want to..."   
"Yes, I do," he said immediately without letting her finish. She sounded confident in what she said and that was enough for him to erase his last doubts.

Immediately he pulled her even closer to him and entangled her in a kiss again before the elevator doors opened. Without hesitation, he lifted her as if she weighed nothing and then carried her into the apartment. He ran with her across the hall, straight to his bedroom. He never interrupted her kiss for a second. He liked the feeling of her lips on his lips and the pleasant flutter that was caused by it much too much.

Natasha began to unbutton his shirt as he let her sink to the bed while she wiped her shoes off her feet.   
"I think I could get used to this," Tony whispered into her ear as she stroked his muscular chest with her hands.   
"I can imagine," she agreed and wrapped her legs around his hips to pull him even closer.


End file.
